I'm not a business major but releasing their IPO while being sued for billions sounds like a bad idea. Someone please explain this to me.
Spotify files for its IPO
81–90 of 218 posts
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#82Wow way to try to maximize how much you can dump employee options and stock into an IPO before the lawsuit and others like it materialize. This is nuts. Lawsuit yesterday start of IPO process today.
As others have pointed out, it's much more likely that the folks filing the lawsuit chose the timing of their filing to coincide with the predicted IPO to maximize PR exposure and increase the pressure for a quick settlement.
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the same problem Netflix & Amazon have been successful in combating. The answer is to become a content owner by competing with the big labels directly. All Spotify needs to push the big labels back on their heels is to sign a few top 40 artists of their own. I might be wrong but I remember reading something like 90%+ of streams on music services are of songs currently on the charts. Capture the popular cultur…
It’s really not though because music is a loss leader for amazon, apple and google, but it is spotify’s entire business. The only other major competitors out there are either in major cahoots with the big 3 (tidal, pandora) or gone (soundcloud, grooveshark, rdio). Netflix has this problem too but they “solved” it by making their own content. Amazon are Google are doing the same thing. That’s the direction I see Spoti…
Music is quite a bit different, in that people spend lots of time curating their own playlists and they listen to the same songs repeatedly. It is incredibly annoying to have songs that you want in your playlists but can't get, EVEN if you pay for multiple services.
Making their own content for video has the advantage that most people are OK with opening a new browser tab or an app to watch a specific movie or show.
With music, however, you don't want to run multiple conflicting music players, especially when they don't sync up playlists and seamlessly work together.
I wonder how that will pan out. It's a significant difference.
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s really not though because music is a loss leader for amazon, apple and google, but it is spotify’s entire business. The only other major competitors out there are either in major cahoots with the big 3 (tidal, pandora) or gone (soundcloud, grooveshark, rdio). Netflix has this problem too but they “solved” it by making their own content. Amazon are Google are doing the same thing. That’s the direction I see Spoti…
> or gone (soundcloud, grooveshark, rdio) I can't speak for grooveshark or rdio, but as far as I know soundcloud still exists. I just added a song there and listened to some other stuff a week ago. Did I miss something?
They fired a fair number of developers in San Francisco, Berlin, shut offices etc - but are still running the servers AFAIK.
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s really not though because music is a loss leader for amazon, apple and google, but it is spotify’s entire business. The only other major competitors out there are either in major cahoots with the big 3 (tidal, pandora) or gone (soundcloud, grooveshark, rdio). Netflix has this problem too but they “solved” it by making their own content. Amazon are Google are doing the same thing. That’s the direction I see Spoti…
> or gone (soundcloud, grooveshark, rdio) I can't speak for grooveshark or rdio, but as far as I know soundcloud still exists. I just added a song there and listened to some other stuff a week ago. Did I miss something?
Soundcloud exists, but is likely on life support[1].
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#86I don't think this is a good long term investment. Disclaimer: I worked for a Spotify competitor in the past, so i have a pretty solid understanding of how the business works. I think it is a bad investment for one simple reason: Spotify purchases its main product (music) from a oligopoly. I'd estimate that 95%+ of the tracks streamed (by total playtime) are from one of the 3 major music labels: Universal, Sony or Wa…
Agree. I recently learned that this is called "Bargaining Power of Suppliers" from 25iq.com blog by Tren Griffin. His post on MoviePass is superb.
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s really not though because music is a loss leader for amazon, apple and google, but it is spotify’s entire business. The only other major competitors out there are either in major cahoots with the big 3 (tidal, pandora) or gone (soundcloud, grooveshark, rdio). Netflix has this problem too but they “solved” it by making their own content. Amazon are Google are doing the same thing. That’s the direction I see Spoti…
It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple not being in that game yet is because of their long standing agreement with Apple Records (the Beatle’s label), who challenged their trademark a while back when they started selling music. I suspect getting into directly signing artists would breach whatever agreement was made and leave Apple open to a huge trademark suit.
Apple does directly sign non-label artists to exclusive deals with Apple Music, but so far that's mostly established artists, they haven't put money into discovering and developing artists.
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ignorant question (I'm not very familiar with the music business): what do the labels provide to the artists - why do they need to sign with Time Warner/Sony/etc at all, rather than just releasing their music to all distribution channels (Spotify/Apple Music/etc) themselves? I understand for smaller artists the labels can help provide advertising to them, but the larger, well-known stars you mention seem like they sh…
PR and lots of logistical support. Much of that logistical support is also drawbridge over a moat that makes exposure on a large scale basically impossible without access and backing. The idea that a person can create and maintain a fan base of millions without all that is attractive but infeasible.
Like Louis CK?
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why wouldn't everyone just go to Apple/Google Music if Spotify raised their prices? None of them have exclusive content or features that rival Netflix's exclusive library, I don't see why Spotify have any meaningful pricing power. I'm one of those people who hit OK this year when Netflix raised their price, but I'll immediately leave Spotify if they raise their prices and the competition don't - they have nothing sti…
Same reason people don't move from Amazon to Wal-Mart, or Apple to Android, or Netflix to...I don't even know what. Spotify is objectively better as a service, people love it, and we are creatures of habit. There are other factors like social and all the playlists you've created. Besides, people derive value from things based on more than price alone. You might not see why they have pricing power but the fact is they…
Good point.
If Spotify started charging $15 instead of $9.99 I wouldn't care, I would still pay. They are simply the best music streaming service out there IMO.
I payed for Google Music for a bit a while ago and I hated it and switch to Spotify. The experience was awful. I'm also pretty sure that Google Music rips audio from Youtube in certain cases which makes the audio quality terrible.
Re: Spotify files for its IPO
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
So how do their competitors deal with this?
They don't. Apple, Google, and Amazon can afford to lose money all day long on the music streaming services that they each offer. This is because the services bolster their broader ecosystem of services and products whose aggregate value is far greater than any individual piece on it's own. That's why Spotify is in a precarious position because streaming is it's only bread and butter. Similar to UberEats + Uber versu…
Exactly, the only realistic option Spotify has is to be bought by one of the big 3 (an exit), not an IPO.